Final Flashcards
1
Q
How is Canada commonly stratified?
A
By race and ethnicity
2
Q
What is the key idea of the Vertical Mosaic?
A
Visible minorities are more likely to be on the bottom
3
Q
What factors are our identities made up of?
A
Individual traits & Community traits
4
Q
What are some aspect of community?
A
- though to find anyone without one
- linked to human survival and human genes
- strong in group identity promotes survival
5
Q
Who is Tajfel?
A
Famous psychologist who found that it’s natural for humans to create in groups and out groups
6
Q
What is situationalism?
A
Situational school of anthropology suggests that we have several communal identities, but the salience of each varies depending on the situation
eg. My Quebecois identity is strengthened when I meet a Francophone Quebecois overseas
7
Q
Ethnicity and race are two common types of….
A
communal identity
8
Q
Define ethnicity and what are some of its important aspects?
A
Defined as a social group or community based on perceptions of shared culture and background.
Religion, language and origins are some of its important aspects
9
Q
What is race presently defined as? How does sociology view race?
A
Defined as a social construct used to distinguish people in terms of one or more physical traits
Sociologists view race largely as non-biological
(Humans define races, not our genes)
10
Q
What is the social construction of race?
A
people define race, make it important, not important on its own
11
Q
What is racialization?
A
A social process in which groups of people are viewed and judged as essentially different in terms of their intellect, morality, values, and innate worth because of differences of physical type or cultural heritage
12
Q
Why is race important?
A
Race is important not because of the physical differences but because of our beliefs that these differences are important
13
Q
Give an example of the relationship between race and ethnicity
A
Race=Ethnicity: First Nations are cultural communities
Race≠Ethnicity: Haitian Americans viewed as same race as African Americans but different ethnicity
14
Q
What are some examples In-Group Impositions ?
A
Parents and community socialize, emphasize one’s race and ethnicity
eg. Celebrate special holidays, community events
15
Q
What are some examples of Out-Group Impositions?
A
Non-members emphasize ethnic/racial difference during interactions
eg. Discrimination promotes strong community identity
16
Q
What is the main idea in the article by Walton “My Secret Life as a Black Man”?
A
-Demonstrates both in-group and out-group imposition of racial identity
-He wants to be himself—an intelligent man who loves the arts
-Everyone—both blacks and whites—emphasizes his blackness in his daily interactions
-As a result, he can’t help but think of himself as black
It’s imposed on him
17
Q
In what year did the idea of multiculturalism come to Canada and what did it entail?
A
Began in 1971-
- Respects cultural differences
- Opposed to Assimilation—suggests there is no real ‘Canadian’ and people don’t need to assimilate
18
Q
What are some problems Weinfeld expresses with multiculturalism?
A
-Communal vs. Individual Rights: Respecting culture sometimes means disregarding individual rights
Suggests not all communities are equal
-Maintaining some degree of Integration: can’t just have separate communities here in Canada
-Ethnic Match: culturally sensitive public services
19
Q
What is ethnic mobilization?
A
commonly forces dominant communities to address pass discrimination, to recognize present ethnic inequalities
eg. Civil Rights Movement in the US
20
Q
What did colonialism do to Aboriginal people?
A
Colonialism and white settlement marginalized Aboriginal Canadians, isolated them and made them have lesser privileges
21
Q
What is the main idea of de Leeuw et al. article?
A
-Article considers health inequalities
Suggests that colonial geographies have hindered the health of First Nations peoples in at least two ways
(1) Isolation: Reserves are so very isolated, don’t have health care system
Access: People can’t get needed health care
(2) Alienation: discriminated against, don’t feel comfortable off the reserves and in hospitals
Causes people to avoid health care
History of reserves linked to health inequalities
22
Q
What are some examples of how the Canadian Government made a concerted effort to destroy Aboriginal cultures and impose ‘western’ cultures?
A
- residential schools
- killed inuit sled dogs
23
Q
What were some of the effects of residential schools?
A
Abuse: Nearly all students experienced physical and sexual abuse at the schools
Human Guinea Pigs: Experimental medical and nutritional tests performed on many students
Neglect: Residential schools neglected kids, caused them to be raised in environments without love
Alienation: Not accepted by whites because of race, alienated from their culture
-intergenerational effects
This treatment contributed to mental illness and substance abuse among many
24
Q
True or false? The founding figures of sociology largely ignored gender and sexuality
A
True
25
Who was Harriet Martineaux?
often considered the first female sociologist
| Studied a number of things, especially gender inequality
26
What are some examples of gendered differences?
occupations (construction vs. nursing), Activities (hunting vs. sewing), Appearances (baseball cap vs. makeup), Colors (Blue vs. Pink), Attitudes (aggressive vs caring), Foods (steak vs. salad)
27
What are some ways we can view sex on a continuum?
Intersexed: Ambiguous genitalia
| Body Alterations: complete and partial sex changes (transsexual)
28
What are some ways we can view gender on a continuum?
Androgyny: Individual behavior rarely completely coincides with one gender, considerable variation
Cross Dressing: People dress contrary to norms
Sexuality: Some people are bisexual, some homosexual
Transgendered: Accept gender that is different from their sex but don’t try to transform body
Sex and gender do not coincide
29
What do people risk to be called when blurring the line of gender norms and what does it force them to do?
Deviant: Most cultures try to maintain clear distinction between men and female, view blurring as “dangerous”
gender norms remain powerful, forcing people to either be labeled as deviant, to hide their “aberrant” behavior, or to live in subcultures
30
How was homosexuality first legalized in Canada?
With the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1968-9: which legalized sodomy among consenting adults
31
How do biologists (nature) view gender debates?
-Physiological and hormonal differences affect us
| -there are inherent differences, present in all societies
32
How do sociologists view the gender nature vs nurture debate?
-Recognize biological elements:
We aren’t blank slates, obvious biological differences between males and females
-But also has disagreement with Biology: Main disagreement is when the biological perspective suggests gendered social structures are determined by genes
Genes-based argument overly deterministic about gendered social behaviour
Sociologists believe that there is no Universal Gender: Differences in gender between societies, differences in gender over time
33
How do sociologists recognize the importance of nurture in the gender debate?
Sociologists emphasize how socialization promotes gender differences
We learn to be gendered from our social relations and it starts at birth
34
What did Erving Goffman say about gender?
focused on how we are socialized to play different gender roles
Life is like a stage: we assume a role, use a script that helps the audience know who we are supposed to be
Gender is among the most important roles we play
Props: we are socialized to use a variety of props to play our roles convincingly
35
What does West & Zimmerman say about gender?
Agree with Goffman but believe he overlooks the interactive nature of gender
“Doing”: Suggest that gender is something that is constantly ‘done’ in our interactions with others
Interactive: Gender is ‘done’ through interaction
Audience isn’t passive, it forces you to change script
If someone’s gender is questioned, they’ll change script to assert gender more strongly
36
What are some examples of how gender is stratified in Canada?
Women earn about a quarter less than men
Women are burdened with more household work
Women are underrepresented in positions of authority
25 % of MPs are women
Women are overrepresented among victims of violence
37
What is the biological view as to why gender inequalities exists?
The biological perspective suggests that the greater physical strength and aggressiveness of men allow them to dominate women
38
What is the sociological perspective of gender inequalities and what are its strengths and weaknesses?
Socialization is the main cause of inequality
Strength: Helps explain variation in inequality
Weakness: A more difficult time explaining why gender inequality is nearly everywhere
39
What do Sociologists who downplay biology suggest as another reason why gender inequality exists?
Patriarchy: Social system in which males hold positions of authority in major institutions, women excluded
40
What are different theories that explain the emergence of patriarchy around the world?
- technology
- warfare
- settles agriculture
- capitalism (men head of household)
- colonialism
41
What are the three reasons for Continued Gender Inequality in Canada?
1-) Discrimination: People discriminate against women subtly and overtly because they value men more or feel more comfortable with men e.g. Sadler and Sadler: Find overt and hidden discrimination against girls in schools
History classes ignore female figures
2-)Women do More Domestic Work: Patriarchal values suggest this is proper, not appropriate for males
Nakhaie: looks at housework and finds that women keep doing the housework even when working full time )Second Shift Exhausts them, prevents long hours at work)
3-)Motherhood: Patriarchal values make women the primary care givers (for children and elderly) More likely to stay at home to raise kids or take care of elderly, can’t work or work shorter hours, Take off work when kids ill
This takes women out of labor market, prevents them from working as much outside of the house as men
-“Mommy Tax”
-Gatekeeping: Lingering patriarchy can cause women to protect duties even when men are willing to help
42
What does the Traditional Nuclear Family consist of?
(1)Marriage: family based on a marriage, male & female
(2) Children: biological offspring are part of the family
Until they start their own families
Just (1) and (2) is the Nuclear Family
(3) Roles: Traditional roles
Children: limited responsibility, parental authority
Father: family authority, provides resources
Mother: primary childcare giver, housework
43
What are some of the family transformations in Canada?
Divorce: single-parent households, non-biological parent
Cohabitation: couples not married
Children: couples not having children, adopting
Same-Sex Couples
Different Family Roles: no longer patriarchal household
Extended Families: multiple generations, kids living with parents as adults
44
What is the functionalist view of the TNF?
View: TNF is best at raising kids
Divorce: Supposedly has many bad effects
Limits supervision of kids
Decreases family resources, especially for women
Causes mental trauma
Female Work:
Mothers working outside of the family hurts kids
Overburdening of Women: Women working outside the home still do most of the housework, childcare
45
What is the Feminist/Conflict critique of the functionalists view of the TNF?
1- Conflict and domination happen in the TNF (inequalities, unhappy marriages
2-Limitied view of family (Historically speaking, the TNF is very rare
Even today, when many people still have ideas of the TNF as normal, empirical evidence clearly shows that it isn’t)
46
What causes transformations in the family?
- Social Environment: (family structures depend on the social environment)
- Economy: ( The most influential view sees the family as largely dependent on the economy.Takes a historical view and tries to show how economies promote certain family structures)
47
What is the foraging family?
small groups of people, limited division of labor (everyone does much of the same thing)
Whole community is family, raises children
48
What are the two phases of industrialization and the family?
Capitalism: Separates family from economic production
1st Phase: Men leave to work, strong gender roles, interdependence
Maintains patriarchal family of settled agriculture
2nd Phase: Both men and women work outside house, weakening gender roles, divorce
Decreases number of children
49
What is the main idea of Maxine Margolis, “Putting Mothers on the Pedestal” ?
Margolis argues motherhood was caused by industrial.
Industrial Family: Two major changes
(1) Men left the house to go work in factories
They didn’t spend as much time raising the kids
Became “woman’s work”
(2) Middle-class families began to buy many of their household needs instead of producing them
As a consequence, many women didn’t have as much to do around the house
The combination of absent fathers and mothers with fewer duties were the preconditions that allowed an ideology of motherhood to spread
Women became primary childcare givers, and men were largely removed from this role
Basis of an ideology of the nurturing mother
50
What is the main idea of Viviana Zelizer: Pricing the Priceless Child ?
Zelizer provides evidence that an idea of childhood was constructed at the same time as motherhood
(before they were considered small adults and then childhood emerged)
With the rise of motherhood, mothers helped invent childhood to make their new positions more valued
If mothers sole job was caring for kids, their status was improved by emphasizing the importance of childcare (idea proposed by the rich for the rich)
51
How do sociologists study religion?
Analyzes social relations scientifically, and sees religion simply as one type of social relation
Analyzes origins of religions, what affects them
Analyzes the impact of religion on social relations
52
What is a sociological definition of religion?
Any systematic approach to living that involves beliefs about one’s origins, one’s place in the world, and/or a responsibility to live and act in particular ways
53
What are the three (4) mains components of religion (sociological definition)?
Rules: Rules about how we are supposed to act
Beliefs: Views about how the world works, where the world came from, what happens after death
Usually about the “Big” questions
Systematic: Covers diverse aspects of life, Fundamental world-views
and sometimes higher power
54
What is the conflict perspective of religion?
Religion is formed by the powerful to dominate the weak
Marx made the most famous quote on religion— “Religion is the opiate of the people.”
Norms and values of religion support dominant group, suggest subordinate should accept their lot
Compatible with biological view
55
What is the functionalists perspective of religion?
believe religion are formed because they help hold societies together, integrative role
Provide shared norms, values, and outlooks for social peace
Also compatible with biological views
Collective Conscience: Concept of Durkheim’s that suggests social groups have a shared conscience(rituals)
56
What is the main idea of Woodberry: Religion and Democracy
Argues that Protestantism should promote democracy for other reasons
Main argument is that it decentralizes power and promotes a robust civil society
Impact is through several mechanisms (education, print, social organizations)
57
What is the history of education?
Informal Education: Until recently, the only type
Parents, siblings, community members taught children skills they would need to survive
How to make butter, which plants are poisonous, etc.
Formal Education: emerged only recently
First university 1088AD
Education didn’t become compulsory in Canada until the late 19th century
4% of Quebecois attended secondary school in 1952
58
How do sociologists study education?
Sociology of Education: Not really concerned with techniques and processes but instead, goal is to analyze education as a social phenomenon
How does education affect society?
How does society affect education?
59
What aspects does sociology of education pay most attention to?
Mobility: How education promotes upward mobility and provides other valuable benefits
Inequality: How education creates & reinforces it
60
Why is education valued?
Education is increasingly valued because it is a source of merit (considered to me smart and hard working), so people focus on it more, value it more
61
What are some of the social values of education?
Health: studies have shown that education increases the life chances of both the educated and children
Economic Development: Education is vital to industrialization. Provides skills, enhances productivity, and promotes technological development
62
What is Durkheim's (functionalist) view of education?
-Social Integration: Felt modernization was a disintegrating force
Norms destroyed, live among people you didn’t know, etc.
Ed. expansion helped to overcome these problems
-Socialization: shared norms, values, and identities
Universal norms
Helped discipline the population
National identities
-Mobility/Merit: Suggest education helps direct the most talented individuals to the most important jobs
63
What is the conflict view of education?
Question the value of education
Basic Idea: While recognizing its positive effects, they believe education can be a means of negative outcomes as well
Means of dominant to dominate subordinate
Materialism: Marx’s materialism suggests that education is dominated by the economic elites
Supports their interests, disseminates their views
Not so good at passing on knowledge
64
What is the main idea of Bowles and Gintis’ Schooling in Capitalist America?
Take a Marxist perspective
Suggest that schooling helps maintain the capitalist system and reinforces class-based inequalities
Legitimizing Inequality: Schools emphasize the importance of education-based meritocracy
There is a strong relationship between a student’s SES background and success in school
65
What are some theorized explanations for Class-Based Educational Inequality ?
1-Biology: Some claim natural intelligence underlies school success
2-Price: Education is expensive, allowing the rich to get more of it than the poor
3-Cultural Capital: Proposed by Pierre Bourdieu
Definition: stock of learning and skills that increases the chance of securing a superior job
4-Hidden Curriculum: Cultural Capital influential because of Hidden Curriculum
Teaches obedience to authority and conformity to dominant cultural norms
Students from advantaged backgrounds accept it
Others reject it, rebel, don’t do as well
5-Neighborhoods: good schools in good neighbourhoods
66
What is the hunter-gatherer vs settler example of health?
Comparison of hunter-gathering and settled agricultural societies shows how social relations affect health
-Hunter gatherers were in better health because 1- they had better and more diverse nutrition 2-they weren't susceptible to famine as were settled groups 3-less prone to disease because they weren't as dense as a population, weren't in contact with domesticated animals and were better nourished
67
What are the three main ways social relations affect health and describe them
1-Lifestyle: Hunter-gatherers vs. settled agriculture example as well as smoking, drinking, exercising, breast feeding, condoms, mines, your network connections
2- Public services and policies: Public health care, Sewage and clean water, Education (especially female)
3-Environmental Factors: disease such as malaria and pollution
68
What is An almost universal finding of medical sociologists ?
Health is strongly related to class
69
What are the three explanations as to why class affects health?
(1) Environment: Poor experience greater pollution
Oil Refineries: Rich better able to keep them out of their neighborhoods, poor more likely to live near them because land/rent is cheap
Poor governments more willing to allow pollution
(2) Lifestyle: Poor at greater risk of risky lifestyle
Nutrition, addiction, gangs, etc.
Commonly more limited social networks
(3) Public Services: Live in areas without health care, less access to services, less educated
70
Define medicalization and give examples of it
How certain behaviors become medicalized, become viewed as medical problem
-Social relations define things as medical or not
-Commonly medicalize deviant behavior
Examples:
Attention Deficit Disorder
Homosexuality: Listed as a psychological disorder until 1974
71
What is demography?
the study of human populations
Interested in four main aspects of population:
Birth, death, population movements, and aging
-statistically orientated
-began with censuses
-Thomas Malthus
72
What are some of the statistical rates demographers look at to analyze a population?
-Mortality Rate: number of deaths per 1,000 people
-Birth Rate: number of live births per 1,000 people
-Population Growth Rate: % change in a populations size in one year
Dependent on three things: (1) Birth rate, (2) Death rate, (3) population transfers
(world population grows 1%/year)
73
What is a population pyramid?
Visual representation that shows the population by age group
Typically divided by sex, with men on left and women on right
Vertical axis measures age
Horizontal axis shows share of population
74
What is the demographic crisis is developed countries?
Top heavy pyramids: a lot of retired people and not many people of working age
75
What is the relationship between sociology and politics?
Effects of social structures on politics
How social background affects voting behavior
Effects of politics on social structures
How democracy affects equality
76
What are the three aspects of formal politics that political sociologists focus on?
Government: The group of individuals who make political decisions
eg. The Harper Government
Regime: Rules governing who rules and how they rule
eg. Canada has a parliamentary democracy
State: The organizations that the government formally controls and uses to implement its decisions
77
True or false, All types of social relations are political? why
True because power is active in all types of social relations, not just formal politics
78
What is an important but largely invisible source of power in the world of politics?
Authority
Weber: Noted that political elites rarely have to use coercion or exploit their resources, as people follow orders because of authority
79
What are Weber's three types of authority?
(1) Charismatic Authority: Charisma, unique powers of individual are the basis for their domination of others
(2) Traditional Authority: tradition is used to justify the rule of some over others
(3) Legal-Rational Authority: rules justify domination
Weber thought all political systems have different combinations of all three
80
What is global institutionalism?
Explores how globalization has promoted the proliferation of common values throughout the world
Powerful countries and global organizations are the cause of this proliferation
(promotion of democracy)
81
What are three components of a social movement?
Conflict: social movements are inherently conflictual
Change: social movements pursue change
Mass: social movements involve large numbers of people acting together to pursue change
82
What are some ways democracy promotes social movements?
Legitimizes Public Discussions: Elections require public discussion of major issues, social movements continue/expand such discussions
Right to Assemble: Right of assembly is necessary for campaigning; SMs depend on large assemblies
Free Speech: Democracy promotes free speech; SMs benefit from free speech
Numbers: Elections magnify and legitimize numeric strength; movements pursue the masses
83
What is globalization and what are some examples?
the increasing political, economic, and cultural integration of the world
Economic: You’re clothes, computers, food, and other goods from all over the world
Political: United Nations and other political orgs.
An increasing number of treaties over hunting whales, child labor, gender equality, free trade, etc.
Cultural: Intermingling of cultures
In MTL, there is a hodgepodge of cultures
McDonald’s everywhere
84
What are some causes of globalization?
transportation, communication, economic, political
85
What is the positive view of globalization?
Believes globalization forces countries to become better
Promotes capitalist development, democracy, improvements in health and education
Modernization Theory: Takes functionalist view, suggests all societies go from primitive to complex
Globalization speeds up this process
86
What is neo-libealism?
an ideology that believes the expansion of the market mechanism domestically and internationally is most beneficial for human well-being
Assumes a free market benefits everyone
Promoted by US, IMF, World Bank, etc.
Common view in economics
Believe globalization allows for freer markets all around the world
87
What is a negative view of globalization ?
Conflict theory views globalization as something that benefits some at the expense of others
Says globalization helps makes them backward
Opposite of modernization/neoliberas views
World-Systems Theory: Popularized by Wallerstein
Marxism applied to global relations, not domestic
Divides world up into core, semiperiphery, periphery
88
What do sociologist studying media look at?
Primarily interested in the socializing impact of the media
| Usually focus on more negative effects
89
What are some impacts of media on body image?
Many believe the media has great impact on ideals of beauty
Health: Anorexia and runway models
Sexualization: Media sexualizes girls,
90
What are some impacts of media on violence?
Some evidence that wide-spread depictions of violence in the media contributes to aggression
Glorifies and dulls the senses, promotes copy-cats
NRA blamed Hollywood for Connecticut shootings
New interest in video games
91
What are some impacts of media on consumerism?
Media bombards people with new products, creating new “needs”
The main function of the capitalist media is to get you to buy
This starts at a very young age, and marketing experts are increasingly targeting kids
Good to get them and get brand loyalty when they’re young
92
What is the conflict perspective of the media?
Means of domination
Totalitarianism: State controls the media, feeds the population its biased views
Helps state leaders maintain control
North Korea
Many sociologists believe such domination—although less powerful and more subtle—can also happen in capitalist democracies
93
What is the symbolic interactionist view of the media?
believe socialization is more complex and that we are able to resist the media
Media’s message must coincide with and be supported by one’s social environment/interactions and one’s preexisting views
94
What is Gladwell's famous study offering evidence that social relations affect health?
Study offers evidence that the social environment helps explain health in Roseto
Very close-knit community, people very sociable
Seems to limit stress, promote happiness
Thereby limits heart attacks, ulcers, alcoholism, etc.
Supports the idea that we are social animals who are biologically wired to have active social relations
